Country Correspondent: Molly Fitzgerald
England's National Health Service (NHS) plans to recruit an additional 240 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in nursing and residential care homes in an effort to curb overmedication and hospital stays among elderly patients. Approximately 180,000 care home residents are expected to receive reviews of their current medication lists to identify potentially harmful interactions and duplicative medications. In addition, more than 90 percent of England’s community pharmacies have taken part in NHS England’s Quality Payments Scheme, which incentivizes pharmacies to provide clinical services in the community. Since April 2017, the scheme has referred more than 12,500 high-risk asthma patients for a full review, and trained 70,000 pharmacists as “dementia friends” for elderly patients.
